Sunderland endured a devastating end to the 2018/19 campaign, with Jack Ross’ side losing the League One play-off final 2-1 yesterday afternoon.
Charlton Athletic silenced a strong Sunderland following in excellent fashion, coming from a goal behind to win at Wembley.
Nabby Sarr’s own goal gave Sunderland the perfect start, but Ross’ side were poor from the fifth minute onwards and Charlton deserved their win.
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Ben Purrington equalised for Lee Bowyer’s side in the first-half before Patrick Bauer struck with almost the final kick of the game in the 94th minute.
For Charlton, the Championship beckons, but Sunderland are facing a second consecutive season in the League One and an interesting summer now awaits Ross and his side.
Here, we take a look at THREE things we learnt at Wembley yesterday…
Sunderland’s ‘big game’ players never turned up
There is so much quality in the Sunderland side, which makes their performance yesterday even more frustrating.
Chris Maguire was poor from the start, whilst Aiden McGeady and Will Grigg had a limited impact from the bench.
Ross needed these players to step up. They didn’t.
With Lyle Taylor, Sunderland would’ve gone up
Taylor didn’t score yesterday for Charlton, but he was superb and laid on Purrington’s equaliser after a slick move.
He’s the type of player Sunderland have missed this season. Charlie Wyke and Grigg are great League One strikers, but it isn’t always the biggest names that get you where you need to be.
Taylor does great work off the ball and is a talented player.
He made a difference yesterday, and would’ve done over the season for Sunderland.
The fans will be vital next year
A defeat like that is tough to take for Sunderland’s fans and it’ll take time to recover.
However, they were in fine voice before, during and after the game and their support deserves credit.
Now, it is about sticking with Ross and the players and bouncing back next season.
With them behind the side, Sunderland can put this behind them and get back on the horse.